Ode to the Dell C2100/FS12-TY

[Mirfster]

At dinner right now, but search the forums.. I posted info in another thread with wattage with pictures from my PDU. Think it was like 260ish with all 12 bays running 7200 RPM drives. Also, I don't spin down my drives.

As far as noise it is a dream compared to other unmodified 2u servers. Should not get over 60db, unless it is running super hot like in summer and housed in a concrete garage with 90 degrees weather.

 

[Kevin Horton]

At dinner right now, but search the forums.. I posted info in another thread with wattage with pictures from my PDU. Think it was like 260ish with all 12 bays running 7200 RPM drives. Also, I don't spin down my drives.

As far as noise it is a dream compared to other unmodified 2u servers. Should not get over 60db, unless it is running super hot like in summer and housed in a concrete garage with 90 degrees weather.

Hmm. That is quite a bit more power than my current system is using. I'm running about 62W at idle (i.e. drives spinning, but no significant CPU activity). That is with six 5400 rpm drives. The WD specs suggest those six drives would consume 3.3W each at idle, leaving about 42W for the CPU, RAM, motherboard, fans, etc.

I like the low acquisition cost of used C2100 systems, but every 10W extra power usage will cost me about $60 over a five year life cycle. I don't need a powerful system, so perhaps I should look at other options.

 

[Mirfster]

Here is the post I was referencing (Post #29):
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...most-of-the-hardware.41632/page-2#post-267845

And an except from it:

Now with that said, here is the power consumption via my Raritan PSU:
Server #1 (Outlets 2 & 12) = ~ 215 Watts
Server #2 (Outlets 1 & 11) = ~ 216 Watts
Server #3 (Outlets 3 & 13) = ~203 Watts

What system are you using in comparison? Does it have dual PSU?

 

[Kevin Horton]

Here is the post I was referencing (Post #29):
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...most-of-the-hardware.41632/page-2#post-267845

And an except from it:


What system are you using in comparison? Does it have dual PSU?

My current system is much less capable, with a single G3258 CPU, 16 GB RAM, a single PSU, a X10SL7-F motherboard and six 4 TB WD Red drives.

Dual PSUs would be nice, to allow the system to continue to operate after a failure. I do spend quite a bit of time on the road, and would like the system to be able to keep running for a week or two after typical single failures.

I don't yet need the much greater processing power that a C2100 would bring to the table. But, I have hopes someday of moving to 10Gb networking, which I assume would require much more processing power than my current CPU has. I also will be running a small handful of jails, which implies needing more RAM than would be indicated just by the amount of storage.

 

[Mirfster]

There are other things that can be done to lower the total watts.
Like perhaps:

1. Using the Samsung Green Memory (1.35v vs 1.5v)
2. Using 5400RPM Drives (I have all 7200RPM)
3. Using the L Series CPUs
   1. Like L5630, which comes in a 40w TDP; but is only quad core
   2. There is a L5639 which is a Hex core that for some reason Intel does not list on there ARK site
4. Only using one CPU
   
5. Not using one of the PSUs (I wouldn't though)

All in all I don't think that it will ever get close to the power draw you have currently. But for a 2U I don't think that it is too bad especially when compared to similar models from the same time.

 

[freenasmww]

I've just started my build.

C2100 (from MrRackables)
1x L5640
72GB RAM (9*8GB)
2x 960GB Samsung SV843 SSD
9211-8i (Expander backplane)
6x 3TB Toshiba DT01ACA300

I'll report my power findings once its up and running.

Tay from MrRackables was helpful and had excellent pricing.

 

[vbGvMWpXht4kEm]

These servers intrigue me, but I am concerned about the noise. I go to SilentPCReview to plan my desktop builds. Rotational drives get suspended from elastic fabric to mechanically decouple them from the case, that kind of thing.

I'm going to be sitting about 6' away from the FreeNAS build in a closet with a good 3/4" gap between the door and the hardwood floor.

So, with that said, just how quiet are these things? :)

 

[Mirfster]

So, with that said, just how quiet are these things?

~60db... I have 4 running in a 42U Rack not more than 6 feet from me. They are in a small closet (~5' x 5') that doesn't have a door right now. I talk on speaker phone all the time and no one is the wiser.

Be sure to follow the instructions for the proper BMC Firmware (under "Quite the sucker down") and you should be good.

 

[vbGvMWpXht4kEm]

How is the noise profile? Is is pretty high pitched? Did you ever make that 5 foot walk and record a video? No shame, I'm the same ;)

 

[Mirfster]

How is the noise profile? Is is pretty high pitched? Did you ever make that 5 foot walk and record a video? No shame, I'm the same ;)

Noise is not bad at all for me. I really need to get around to making a video, but office is a wreck right now. I have ~20 systems all over the place and my cabling is a mess. Need to get stuff "presentable" first. :)

 

[vbGvMWpXht4kEm]

Heh I hear you.

 

[SlothHugger]

Just pulled the trigger on one of these from DWF. Thanks, Mirfster!

Has anyone tried 6TB drives? Highest I've seen mentioned in the thread are 4TBs.

 

[bbddpp]

@Mirfster

This thread I started brought me here: https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...dundancy-raid-cheapest-way.47668/#post-327692

Basically I just want a way to take the current 12 drives I have and have room for future expansion. Still on the fence on RAID but I need a system that doesn't run hot, has enough juice to run all the drives, and is capable of running plugins like Sonarr, NZBGet, etc, to update my media as well as stream it to several Kodi installations throughout the house. Essentially just want to be able to support large, single drives of various sizes 3TB - 5TB (for now, maybe larger down the road). My key problem now is that I am just out of ports/bays on the ATX form factor machine I am currently using. I'd rather just have everyone in one box.

Is the C2100 in a basic 32GB configuration maybe for me?

Server will be in the basement in an unfinished workshop area, noise is no concern. I would however like to not use more power supply than I need to here.

Prior to reading this thread, I had been considering doing a new build using a Norco 4220 with new motherboard/RAM/CPU or a SuperMicro 4U, both mostly due to their 20-24 bays.

It sounds like I might be able to buy 2 of these on ebay ready to roll cheaper...I just want to make sure they have enough juice to do more than just serve files, but also can run my software without any bottlenecks.

EDIT - Also, thanks for all your hard work in sharing this. The final question I might have is if I would be better off with a PERC700 or the 9211-8i Controller if my main goal is just to use this as a giant case of storage without RAID? Also, are either of those a better choice if I later decide I want to connect a second C2100 or another unit to add more drives? Or even better, is there a comparable solution to this with more bays? The more I think of it, the more drives a case can hold, the better, and I'm going to suck a lot more power with 2 C2100's over the next few years than a single 4U or Norco case that holds 24 drives but still the same power supplies.

Thanks.

 

[depasseg]

Also, thanks for all your hard work in sharing this. The final question I might have is if I would be better off with a PERC700 or the 9211-8i Controller if my main goal is just to use this as a giant case of storage without RAID?

Neither. The expansion chassis doesn't need a motherboard nor HBA. Just buy a JBOD enclosure like I mentioned in the other thread once you want to add more drives. Any SAS JBOD enclosure will be compatible. And your host server will either need an HBA with external ports, or a PCI adapter to connect internal ports to external ports.

 

[depasseg]

Still on the fence on RAID

I'm not sure what this is supposed to mean. What's the debate? Don't use Hardware based RAID. And with so many drives, why wouldn't you consider using RAIDZ2, RAIDZ3 or mirroring?

 

[SlothHugger]

A heads up, the one I ordered from DFW came today and it didn't include screws and neither the BIOS, BMC, or LSI card had been flashed. I sent them email so I'm looking forward to their response. In the meantime, I'm enjoying making a bunch of USB images. :)

Update: DFW is making it right. Easy peasy!

 

[bbddpp]

I just ordered one as well, can you tell me what I need to do in order to check/verify that this stuff is done right? Screws I know is an easy one. Are there easy ways to check BIOS, BMC, and LSI? Hopefully they learned from yours and mine will be right. Part of the reason I liked the deal was that it was ready out of the box. PM me what they are doing for you if you don't mind me asking, in case I have a similar find.

 

[SlothHugger]

I just ordered one as well, can you tell me what I need to do in order to check/verify that this stuff is done right? Screws I know is an easy one. Are there easy ways to check BIOS, BMC, and LSI? Hopefully they learned from yours and mine will be right. Part of the reason I liked the deal was that it was ready out of the box. PM me what they are doing for you if you don't mind me asking, in case I have a similar find.

Well, I emailed them before it shipped and tried to confirm that everything would be flashed appropriately. The fellow that responded said, "Yup, the techs say it's been taken care of!" So that didn't help terribly... It's easy enough to up/downgrade things, but I'm so damn lazy. :) I'll PM you the rest of the details.

 

[bbddpp]

Just wanted to check in. My shipment did arrive, but after Thanksgiving on Saturday. Pretty solidly built system and it's what was advertised. Slowly getting my setup installed and drives migrated over, etc.

One disturbing thing happened today while doing a network copy of files from a drive connected to a PC via SMB networking to the C2100 Freenas box. I received a:

Code:

jbd2 error -5 detected when updating journal superblock

and several other "Buffer I/O error on device" entries in the log. The drive then turned into a red light, went offline, and I had to remove it, slide it back into the system, run an fsck on it and get things squared away. I then remounted it and started the copy again where it left off.

This is a brand new 5TB drive with no SMART errors or issues.

Being a novice, I am not sure what caused this. But, I guess I am a little worried about the stability of the C2100's hardware and future failures already, though maybe this was just a fluke, this was really the first attempt I made to copy to it. To see the system corrupt a drive like that was quite off-putting.

Some googling of the errors seemed to point to possible memory errors

Since this is my first big-boy server, I am not sure how to test that everything in the system was flashed properly or that all the hardware is running as it should. Any tips on what I can check would be appreciated.

I can see in the BIOS that one of the firmwares matches, not sure how to check the others. Did get a bag of screws. The sucker sounded like a jet engine at initial power on but quickly quieted down to a very nice level as promised.

I am pleased with the system, just worried already at its stability doing simple data copies over the network to drives on it.

 

[Spearfoot]

Just wanted to check in. My shipment did arrive, but after Thanksgiving on Saturday. Pretty solidly built system and it's what was advertised. Slowly getting my setup installed and drives migrated over, etc.

One disturbing thing happened today while doing a network copy of files from a drive connected to a PC via SMB networking to the C2100 Freenas box. I received a:

Code:

jbd2 error -5 detected when updating journal superblock

and several other "Buffer I/O error on device" entries in the log. The drive then turned into a red light, went offline, and I had to remove it, slide it back into the system, run an fsck on it and get things squared away. I then remounted it and started the copy again where it left off.

This is a brand new 5TB drive with no SMART errors or issues.

Being a novice, I am not sure what caused this. But, I guess I am a little worried about the stability of the C2100's hardware and future failures already, though maybe this was just a fluke, this was really the first attempt I made to copy to it. To see the system corrupt a drive like that was quite off-putting.

Some googling of the errors seemed to point to possible memory errors

Since this is my first big-boy server, I am not sure how to test that everything in the system was flashed properly or that all the hardware is running as it should. Any tips on what I can check would be appreciated.

I can see in the BIOS that one of the firmwares matches, not sure how to check the others. Did get a bag of screws. The sucker sounded like a jet engine at initial power on but quickly quieted down to a very nice level as promised.

I am pleased with the system, just worried already at its stability doing simple data copies over the network to drives on it.

Yes, that's a little concerning. Did you burn-in the system with memtest/memtest86+? This might reveal any intermittent RAM problems.

Here's a good building-n-testing thread:

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/building-burn-in-and-testing-your-freenas-system.17750/